Tag Archives: Certified Dog Trainer

Service dogs are an invaluable asset to many people. They provide support in many different ways for people living with disabilities. They can provide help with daily tasks such as picking up objects, assisting with crossing the street, or providing emotional support. Service dogs help with a variety of things, and with a variety of health conditions. There are many services that a service dog can provide to individuals. There are some great service dog training centers in Northern Virginia that may help you in your search for a service dog.

Service dogs are specially trained to help people with disabilities, whether physical or intellectual. These dogs live with the person so that they may be more independent. They begin their training when they are around 12 to 18 months old. They are raised and train in a person’s home that are referred to as “puppy raisers”. They teach the puppies everything they will need to know to help a person with any type of disability.

When the puppies are about 18 months old, the Northern Virginia service dog trainers use an approach to training that allows the dogs to think about what they are learning. They also enjoy their work more as a result. When they have completed their training, we spend hours with the owner and we have them do everything numerous times with their dog. This ensures that the new owner is completely confident in how to handle the dog and what to expect. This also allows the potential owner to ask any questions he or she may have regarding life with a service dog.

Service dogs usually fall into three different categories, based on the types of needs they were trained to assist with. There are physical assistance dogs, Autism service dogs, and Diabetic alert dogs.

Physical assistance dogs are used with people who use a wheelchair either on a part time or full time basis because of balance issues or coordination.

Autism service dogs are matched with a child between the ages of two and ten. Their main job is to improve a child’s safety. Parents and the child’s teachers are included in the training and details of the dog so that the dog can be a part of their education plan.

Diabetic alert dogs are very helpful in that they are trained to detect when a person’s blood sugar is out of balance. They can alert their owner so that he or she can take necessary steps to get their blood sugar back to normal.

Service dogs are so beneficial to many people. They make their lives safer, easier, and more manageable. They give people freedom they may not have without the help of the dog. Northern Virginia service dog trainers are happy to train these dogs. They know that by training them to help others, they are making a difference in so many people’s lives.

Celebrity dog trainer in Northern Virginia, Nicholas White, who is the owner of globally recognized dog training business, Off Leash K9 Training, set his second world record for the most off leash commands performed in just 5 days of training; during his private 5-day training program in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns, White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days, according to the World Record Academy.

Photo: During his private 5-day training program in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns, Celebrity dog trainer Nicholas White White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days. (enlarge photo)

Celebrity dog trainer, Nicholas White, who is the owner of globally recognized dog training business, Off Leash K9 Training, set his second world record for the most off leash commands performed in just 5 days of training.

During his private training in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns; during White’s 5-day training program, White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days.

With Molly being a high drive and high energy Malinois, White said that teaching her the “watch” command was the most difficult command to teach her. “Watch” requires a lot of attention and focus from a dog, which is more difficult for high energy dogs.

“Molly was afraid of loud noises, so we spent a lot of time working with her to get her over her fear of fireworks and loud noises.”

“The average dog would take weeks or more to be able to master 14 commands outside, off leash, with distractions. An amazing training system; combined with consistency, time, reinforcement, and a highly intelligent dog, Molly was able to master these in only 5 days.

Molly’s owner, Paul Burns, said, “I truly cannot believe everything Molly has mastered in such a short amount of time.”

People do not realize, there is NO “real” dog trainer certification. Meaning, if you are a licensed plumber, electrician, contractor etc, that means you attended mandatory training and received a license from the state showing that you have passed certifications required by state and federal regulations. There is no such thing in dog training. I will say this again, there is no such thing as being a “real” certified dog trainer.

There are many trainers who love to boast about all of their dog training certifications; however, what they are really saying is, “I paid all of these for profit businesses for a course they offered and they gave me a certification from their course.” I have encountered numerous “certified dog trainers,” who could not train a dog to save their life (nor the dogs’); however, according to some for profit organization that they paid, they can.

For example, we have a dog training trainer’s program in which the trainers who go through my course literally spend over 175 hours working with dogs of all shapes, sizes, energy levels, and aggression levels. This is 100% hands on working over 175+ hours with real clients’ dogs, not “their own dog” like many programs have their would-be trainers do, this is a very unrealistic way to become a dog trainer.

Give me a few hundred dollars and I can make a 10-year old a “certified dog trainer” in the next 7-days based off many of these companies and websites who sells you the ability to be a certified dog trainer. He has never even taught a dog one thing, but I will be able to say he’s a certified dog trainer.

To give you an example; myself, my trainers, my friend who is a US Navy Seal K9 Handler, my friends that work with the Secret Service dogs, police, my friend who is the most accomplished French Ring Decoy in the US, and the list goes on and on and on are NOT “certified dog trainers.” Why? Because we all know how to train dogs amazingly well, and we do not need to pay a civilian-run and created (for-profit) business to give us a certificate they print up to vouch for us.

When people ask, I always say as a joke: “My certification? Former US Marine, former US Secret Service, I have the highest rated dog training business in the tri-state area, train 65 dogs per week, over 400+ before/after videos, and 100+ 5-Star Reviews on Googles. That’s the only certification I have.” 🙂

Again, many of my friends, associates, and colleagues are literally considered the top trainers in the world, and you will never see letters or “certifications” on their websites.

When looking for a trainer, look at that trainer’s reviews, references, and their videos of dogs they have actually trained. Do not be fooled by all of their titles, certifications, and letters they put next to their name. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with their ability to train dogs nor fix your dog’s behavioral issues.